The invention relates to an X-ray emitting assembly for radiological equipment.
The installation of radiology equipment comprising an X-ray emitting assembly poses a number of problems, among which in particular is the alignment of the operating axes of each of the associated elements.
The X-ray emitting assembly, generally situated above an examination table, cooperates with at least one X-ray detector situated under the examination table; this being for example a luminance amplifier or a seriograph or a radiographic cassette.
In all cases, this X-ray detector is the only element whose position, in the equipment stand, may be considered as centered from the outset; the X-ray emitting assembly must then be positioned so that the X-ray beam which it emits produces a radiation field perfectly centered on the upper plane of the selected X-ray detector. An important difficulty resides in the fact that the X-ray source is rarely perfectly aligned with the axis of the window of the sheath in which it is mounted; for this reason, the device for limiting the beam, which is generally a diaphragm, fixed directly to the sheath by mechanical guide marks, does not ensure the geometrical qualities required for the beam. This defect must be compensated for by varying the relative positions of the sheath assembly and of the diaphragm, so that the axis of the beam coincides with the reference direction of the X-ray beam.
Taking into account also the considerable masses to be handled, these conditions make the alignment operations long and difficult and not without risk for the technician, considering the relatively long X-ray emission times required for these adjustments.
These problems are again met with to the same extent during replacement for any reason whatsoever of the sheath assembly or of the diaphragm.
The present invention relates to an X-ray emitting assembly, the arrangement of which allows some of the drawbacks of the known equipment to be resolved.
This arrangement allows more especially the above described alignment problems to be resolved with simple and easily handled means.